Taking a defensive position

Many of the technologies developed by Ireland’s thriving defence industry have a range of other uses, writes Sean O’Riordan

Reamda robotic platforms being used to survey damage remotely in the aftermath of a fire in Douglas Shopping Centre. Picture: Vrai.ie

LAST month Defence Minister Simon Coveney and Higher Education Minister Simon Harris visited Baldonnel Aerodrome, the home of the Air Corps, to announce research funding to develop new technological solutions for challenges identified by the Defence Forces.

A shortlist of 10 teams was selected for the Science Foundation Ireland Defence Organisations Innovation Challenge. Mr Coveney said he believed the scheme would “confront emerging issues within the Defence Forces head-on, through the collaboration of leading researchers with the talented people behind our Defence Forces”.

He added: “At EU level, the role of innovation and disruptive technologies in delivering next-generation military capability is already well recognised. I am looking forward to seeing the results that this synergy of innovators and practitioners under this challenge will undoubtedly generate for the Defence Forces going forward.”

The EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy aims to increase defence research and improve interoperability between national defence forces. While the global climate crisis and a deteriorating global security environment frequently dominate many media headlines, there is a broad and ongoing need for agile, well-equipped organisations on the frontlines of defence, peacekeeping and disaster relief.

New technologies

As in other sectors, new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, autonomous systems, immersive technology and sensor technology are set to change the world’s military forces, from reducing their environmental impact to enhancing their impact on the ground.

Moreover, the necessity for new solutions to safeguard everything from human life to digital communications creates a plethora of opportunities for technology businesses and for research organisations going forward.

Irish Defence & Security Association (IDSA) chairman Pat O’Connor, a former member of the Defence Forces, has pointed to examples of how several companies could shape Ireland’s future defence capabilities.

An A-techsyn UAV, a Shannon-based UAV & VTOL manufacturer. Picture: Vrai.ie

One application of AI is the GUARD Project, funded under the Irish Government’s Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF). It aims to develop AI-enabled unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, or drones if you like) to monitor Ireland’s coastline for drug smuggling.

The project team is led by Professor Holger Claussen, head of the wireless communications lab at Tyndall National Institute, UCC, in partnership with UCD, UL, and SMEs A-techSYN, VRAI and WASP.

“With over 3,000km of coastline and a marine area 10 times its land size, effective policing of Ireland’s maritime border is extremely challenging. Research relating to AI, wireless communications, virtual reality, user interfaces, digital twinning, and next-generation 3D printing, can be combined to develop novel autonomous UAV solutions to support our naval services in monitoring the coast,” Prof Claussen said.

Irish technology SMEs such as mBryonic, Reamda, A-techSYN and VRAI have partnered with academic leaders at our top universities on multiple research and innovation projects.

Prof Brian MacNamee, a leading AI researcher from UCD School of Computer Science, has partnered with VRAI on an SFI Defence Challenge project to use machine learning and virtual reality to enhance pilot training for the Irish air corps.

VRAI provides virtual reality simulation platforms for air corps pilot training.

“Conducting training in virtual reality simulations allows collection of a rich dataset that describes every event, action, and reaction that takes place within the environment. Machine learning techniques can extract valuable insights from this data, allowing us to see how to better train for and assess airmanship in pilots without requiring excessive, expensive, potentially dangerous and perhaps unsustainable amounts of flying time, as well as excessive supervision from highly trained instructors,” Prof MacNamee said.

Beyond training, there are many more opportunities to harness the power of machine learning to enhance defence force operations. 

"Satellite imagery can be analysed to better understand changing situations on the ground and identify challenges. Similarly, machine learning techniques have been applied to large amounts of text data on social media to help direct disaster relief efforts to where they are most needed.”

Mr O’Connor said increasing spending on defence means policies should be put in place that will create jobs, fund research and drive exports for Irish SMEs and research organisations.

“Just as Irish industry skipped much of the ‘smoke stack’ industries of the 20th century, going from a largely agrarian-based economy to the digital economy of today, we now have the opportunity to take the same leap in terms of defence and security capabilities,” Mr O’Connor said.

He said a positive societal impact of defence R&D is that many of the applications can be of benefit in the civilian world as well as in defence and security.

Home grown

A home-grown example comes from Irish SME Reamda, whose advanced robotics platforms help defence forces and police forces defuse explosive devices remotely.

Reamda’s R&D director, Dr Julie Behan, said the robotic platforms Reamda develop not only have a security (explosive ordnance disposal) function, but also a societal function.

“They have been used in industrial demolition, fire fighting and also as part of larger forensic investigations,” she said.

“For example, in the Douglas Shopping Centre (Cork) that was destroyed in 2019 by fire and was subsequently deemed unsafe for human entry and investigation, a number of Reamda’s robotic platform entered the building and provided live surveillance at the source of the fire for assessment purposes,” Dr Behan said.

MEANWHILE, space research and technology is providing invaluable benefits to a range of industries including communications, transport and agriculture, as well as defence.

UCD C-Space (Centre for Space Research) coordinates multiple research themes including Earth Observation (EO) and Nanosatellites and Payloads.

Today’s satellite communication systems, which use radio frequency (RF), are constrained by certain perils of bandwidth technology.

Professor Lorraine Hanlon of UCD C-Space, said this constraint is forecast to worsen as global agreements on bandwidth allocation are predicted to squeeze it even further.

Furthermore, the security of communication protocols is becoming much more important in a digital world and RF transmissions can easily be intercepted and eavesdropped upon.

“Optical communication offers greatly enhanced security for ground-to-satellite communications and is a key enabler of next-generation quantum communication protocols which are currently being developed. UCD C-Space is working with partner organisations and key Irish SMEs, such as Mbryonics, to secure funding to build critical communications infrastructure and research capacity in this key area of strategic importance to Ireland,” Professor Hanlon said.

Another IDSA member, Mbryonics, is a space technology company based in Galway.

It’s a world leader in the development and manufacture of photonics and optical communications technologies for satellite communications applications.

The company is currently working with ESA (European Space Agency) and DARPA (Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency) — the original inventors of the internet — to invent the space internet.

The aim is to enable an interoperable wireless optical satellite mesh network in space whereby all space infrastructure can be seamlessly integrated into a holistic and robust interconnected network, thereby creating an ‘internet of space’.

Mbryonics’ optical communications technologies are being evaluated by DARPA as a potential solution for the US government as part of their National Defence Space Infrastructure satellite constellation and would enable commercial mega-constellations such as SpaceX StarLink, Amazon Kuiper, Telesat Lightspeed and OneWeb to be fully interoperable, enabling global high-speed connectivity that is
highly resilient to cyberattacks and jamming.

VRAI's Virtual reality simualtion being used by the UN Mine Action Service in Somalia to increase awareness of IED detection. Picture: Vrai.ie

Mr O’Connor said the reported recent cyber attacks on commercial satellite communications serving Ukraine highlights the critical need for this technology and infrastructure to prevent attacks that could bring down a nation’s critical communications capability.

UCD’s associate professor Michela Bertolotto works on the CAMEO project, which brings together university researchers with industry partners, including Dell Technologies, Edgescan, Icon Geo, TechWorks Marine, Treemetrics, and Vertice Cloud, under another DTIF programme.

“EO (Earth Observation) data finds applications in a variety of domains from environmental monitoring to climate change mitigation to effective planning, to name but a few. In particular, remotely sensed data can be used in support of humanitarian operations, civil security and disaster relief. This kind of data is particularly useful to provide situational awareness and monitoring capabilities in areas which are difficult to reach from the ground, such as during flooding or wildfires,” she said.

Mr O’Connor pointed out that the physical demands of military activities make musculoskeletal injuries an occupational hazard for our defence force personnel and indeed military personnel all over the world.

For example, in 2016, up to 30% of US military personnel were estimated to be ‘medically not ready to deploy’ due to injury.

Researchers at the Insight SFI Centre for Data Analytics in UCD are exploring how to use data from wearable motion sensors to develop digital biomarkers of human performance, which could be of benefit in the defence context.

This work, which incorporates expertise in movement science, signal processing and machine learning, is based on the concept that data from a sensor worn during a physical performance test can deliver a much greater understanding of the performance of the individual when compared to the standard ‘analogue’ measurements that have been used in the past.

The research gave rise to Output Sports (www.outputsports.com), a sports tech start-up headquartered at UCD’s innovation hub NovaUCD, which makes a single sensor solution for performance assessment, primarily in elite sports.

The Defence industry in Ireland

 ● IDSA research estimates there are approximately 548 foreign and domestic firms active in the Irish defence 'ecosystem' with the defence sector supporting approximately 1,739 jobs in Ireland.

● The value of their combined dual-use of defence exports from Ireland was €2.4bn in 2019. By way of comparison, Ireland’s beef exports totalled €2.3bn In the same year.

● Ireland will contribute approximately €150m over the next six years to the new European Defence Fund, but currently, it will be very difficult for Irish companies and research institutes to bring much of this Irish contribution back to the Irish economy without the right policies and supports in place for SMEs and RPOs (Research Partner Organisations), such as Tyndall or UCD Research.

● It is estimated that the Department of Defence will spend in the region of €1.5bn - €2bn with global suppliers over the next nine years. That's without any increases recommended in the recently published Commission on the Defence Forces. However, on foot of that report Minister for Defence Simon Coveney said he will seek Cabinet approval for an additional €500m in defence spending this year alone.

● Currently, of the top 50 suppliers to the Irish Department of Defence, only seven are indigenous Irish firms (excluding construction firms and those with dated contracts).

What we need to do to protect ourselves?

BELIEVE it or not, Ireland has a vibrant defence industry, which could contribute far more to the national economy.

These companies could provide more equipment for our own defence, making us less reliant on other countries and many of their products can also be used for the greater good of humanity.

People may find that hard to get their heads around. While it’s true that some companies are manufacturing what could be used as ‘big boys’ war toys’, many have a dual purpose and can also be used to help searches for survivors of natural disasters, seeking out drug smugglers, recording climate change and protecting our peacekeeping troops on overseas missions.

For example, a robot that can be used for bomb disposal can also be used to survey damaged buildings after a natural disaster and find survivors. An artificial intelligence algorithm and drone that monitor our maritime domain for drug smugglers can conduct wildlife surveys, and be used by our peacekeepers for reconnaissance on overseas operations.

A space satellite used to monitor the impact of climate collapse, can also be used to provide intelligence to our Defence Forces operating in peace support operations.

As a nation, we must look at the dark clouds on the horizon and decide what we need to do to protect our society, our people and our economy.

We must also decide how to do it in a way that aligns with our national values, and our tradition of peacekeeping and military neutrality, while protecting, promoting and sustaining our national advantage as a global hub of technology, data and talent.

Today, technology is inherently interwoven into the very fabric of global competition and the pandemic has further accelerated the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution — the digital revolution.

On one hand, new technologies have enabled disinformation and proxy war; but they’ve also led to trade wars.

The global power blocks, increasingly polarised and looking for new ways to gain a competitive advantage, are focussing on the adoption of transformative technologies such as AI, Robotics and autonomous systems in domains ranging from land, sea, air, space and cyber.

These technologies aren’t specifically for defence. They’re dual-use technologies as they equally have applications in the civil industry as well..

Small nations like Ireland now have the opportunity to successfully compete in this race by developing dual-use technology capabilities that inherently have both civilian and military purposes. The commission on the future of the Defence Forces has recommended our defence spending be increased from 50% immediately, and up to 300% over the next five years.

That means we’ll be spending a minimum €2bn on procurement for the rest of this decade. A robust argument is being made that we should be seeking our own companies to capitalise on this, rather than relying on foreign ones.

The newly formed Irish Defence & Security Association (IDSA) believes new policies should be put in place by the government to fund R&D and drive exports for Irish SMEs and third-level research organisations.